Manganese Bronze shares soar on £17m order for taxis

MANGANESE Bronze has won a major order worth almost £17m to supply its iconic black cabs to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The order is a massive shot-in-the-arm to the Coventry based company, which has been struggling badly during the recession as demand for the vehicles declined.

Investors reacted positively to the news and the firm’s shares leapt more than 55% following the announcement.

A new private company, the Baku Taxi Company, has been established to develop a programme originally announced by the Transport Ministry of Azerbaijan to upgrade the capital city’s taxi fleet.

The agreement will see Manganese supply 1,000 of its TX4 taxis during 2011. The vehicles will be supplied by Shanghai LTI (SLTI), Manganese’s joint venture with Chinese manufacturer Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.

The order is the single largest contract the group has received for its TX4.

The first shipment of 100 vehicles is scheduled for the end of April. The balance of the order is expected to be built and shipped by the end of November 2011. The total value of the order is around $27m.

Manganese said international interest in the Shanghai-built TX4 had increased in the first two months of 2011.

In addition to the order from Azerbaijan, 180 vehicles have been ordered from a number of markets including France, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Italy. International sales of the Shanghai-built TX4 were 226 in 2010.

Earlier this year, Manganese dismissed speculation it was in talks with Geely over a possible move for the taxi firm.

The announcement came after Geely agreed to extend credit terms to the Coventry company to enable it to continue producing vehicles in the country.

John Russell, chief executive of Manganese Bronze, said: “We are delighted to win this order which is the culmination of considerable effort by the teams in Manganese Bronze and SLTI. The order demonstrates the potential of our partnership with Geely and the appeal of the London Taxi worldwide.”

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